Mark 3:1-6
Still bitter from their last encounter and over his low regard for their traditions, the Pharisees escalated the tension between themselves and Jesus. Here the text tell us that some of them were even looking for a reason to shame Jesus publicly. Knowing his compassion for the sick, the Pharisees were particularly interested in Jesus’ reaction to a man with the shriveled hand and whether Jesus would once again defy their religious customs.
It is startling to see the depth of the religious professionals’ unbelief. Not wanting to see a sign or a miracle, but rather wanting to suppress them for the sake of their Sabbath traditions, the Pharisees closed their eyes and hearts to Jesus. The were unwilling to consider the Scriptural implications of the miracles that Jesus had done. In fact, their views of the Sabbath had become such an intellectual idol that it was elevated over everything else even justice, mercy and grace. So the religious authority stood ready to pounce should Jesus break another of their precious traditions by healing the disabled man.
In asking whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, Jesus exposed the Pharisees’ hearts. At first the Pharisees offered only silence in reply to his question, and now it was Jesus’ turn to be angry. It was one thing when these teachers attacked Jesus for allowing his disciples to pluck and eat the heads of grain on the Sabbath, but to be silent about performing good works and healing on the Sabbath?
The Pharisees’ outrage was even more hypocritical. What physical work did Jesus perform? What specifically did Jesus ask the man to do that violated the Pharisees’ sacred tradition? Jesus simply told the man to stretch out his hand, a thing each of these men had done that morning when they put on their clothes. Yet instead of dressing in honor of the Sabbath, Jesus restored the bones and muscles in man’s hand and clothed it in healthy skin – yet still he was hated for it.
Jesus healed with a command – a power that no man possessed in himself and a power that never have been received without God’s assistance and endorsement. This alone should have caused the Pharisees to pause and to consider the ramifications of Jesus’ works. And what could be more sacred, good and holy than healing on the Sabbath? What could be more restful for us and pleasing to God?
Despite their silence, the Pharisees answered Jesus’ question with their response to the miracle. Jesus answered his own question by healing the man, and they in turn answered by plotting to kill him.
And in seeking to murder him, the Pharisees showed that they believed that was better to do evil on the Sabbath than to do good, to kill rather than save a life.
With each of Jesus’ miracles challenging the traditions and authority of the religious professionals, the hardness of their hearts grew harder. In the face of overwhelming evidence, the religious elite continued to reject their Messiah and their God. This is why the Pharisees’ unbelief is a caution for us too. As sinful creatures prone to cling to superstitions and earthly traditions, we need to allow Scripture to batter and test us thoroughly. We need to be willing to soften our hearts when Christ’s teachings expose our religious holdings as distractions to a humble, steadfast faith in the Lord Jesus. Legalism is a hard and miserable path. But for hard and miserable creatures like us, it is a path that is very easy take.
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